It relies on a time-tested formula: antagonists finding common
ground. It's unashamedly manipulative, even cloying in places. It
won't linger. But "Uptown Girls"  the story of Molly, an
immature, flighty, trust-fund-financed party animal in her 20s, and
her attachment to Ray, a precocious, emotionally-repressed,
privileged 8-year old  is a mildly amusing, slightly
heartwarming way to while away 92 minutes. The film's built around
the relationship between Molly and Ray, so the dual lead performances
are crucial. The older girl needs to learn to grow up; the younger
girl needs to learn how to be a kid. We have to care about them both.
Thanks to the actors and director Boaz Yakin, we almost do. Kooky
cutie Brittany Murphy is Molly, orphaned daughter of a '70s rock
star. Poised-beyond-her-years Dakota Fanning is Ray, self-centered
daughter of a preoccupied record-company executive (Heather
Locklear). Molly stays out late, seduces musicians and gets wild
until she learns that she's been bilked out of her inheritance and
must (yikes!) get a job. Failing at a sales gig secured by a friend
(Marley Shelton), she agrees to become Ray's nanny, leading to
compulsory clashes, truces, laughter, tears.